From Fr. Fran

     Have you heard?  They found Jesus’ tomb along with that of his mother Mary, his presumed wife, Mary Magdalene, and his son.  This has all been documented by the director of the epic movie Titanic, James Cameron, who is doing the circuit of talk shows to promote his new documentary. He records how the tomb was unearthed in the 1980’s with its contents examined by archeologists and forensic scientists.  So, is this the find that will shake up the Christian world?
     I remember in seminary, in a class called Christology, we explored Christ’s identity through scripture, tradition and revelation.  After discussing theories of what the resurrection actually could have been like (remember there were no eyewitnesses to the event) one of my classmates asked our professor: “Does this mean we could actually find the body?”  His answer implied that anything was possible because the essence of resurrection is beyond our comprehension.
     Maybe that’s a good way to look at the current controversy over the discovery unearthed just outside of Jerusalem.  Our faith in Christ is based on so much more than the mere physical.  Our creator transcends space and time and form.  Jesus’ role as Son and Savior is caught up in that mystery of God.  The revelation of God which has come to us through the gospels and the Tradition tells us that God’s love for us is so great that, in the person of Christ, God took on our flesh and blood, our hopes and dreams, our tears and laughter and died so to open for us the way to heaven.  That’s way beyond anything we can comprehend (or deserve!)
      In the Mass of the Rite of Christian Burial we hear that Christ will “raise our mortal bodies and make them like his own in glory.”  The prayer goes on: “On that day we shall see you, our God, as you are.   We shall become like you and praise you forever through Christ our Lord…”  That is our hope, our heavenly goal and home – to one day live with Christ in his glory.  So what then will we look like on that day? What will happen to the bones we’ve carried around during our time on earth?  Well, that’s all part of the great mystery of the resurrection!  Hope to see you there.